Google (Nasdaq:GOOG), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and China

The decision by Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) to leave China as brought the inevitable comparison to Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and what they are going to do.

To me there is not connection whatsoever, and to bring it up in the first place is to attempt to put Microsoft in a bad light; an unfair conclusion.

Microsoft has been very clear on their China strategy, and chief executive officer Steve Ballmer has stated in the past they have been doing business in China for over 20 years, and they will respect the laws of China; something Google is unwilling to do.

Most in the media have of course rallied around Google, especially all their sycophants, but the truth is every country has laws to obey, and Google absolutely knew what the laws of China were before entering the market.

So it raises the question of why they started doing business with China in the first place if they knew this. History has shown China will engage in actions which allegedly led to Google leaving the country. So again, what's up with all this?

Why isn't there outrage over the treatment in Canada of conservative pundit Ann Coulter, who was viciously slandered and attacked for her views? Why doesn't Google pull out of Canada as a result of their outrageous censorship (which they in fact do have in place).

Now some of Google's supporters are trying to make Microsoft look like the bad guy here because of Google's actions. That's an easy and gutless thing to do because Google gets away with a lot and the media is soft of them in comparison to Microsoft and other competitors of the company.

While Google is getting some positive publicity with this, it isn't quite what they were expecting, and I don't think this will help them in the long run.

After all, it also puts Google in a negative light because they were attempting to manipulate an entire country in order to force their views and practices on them.

Based on Google knowing what China was and how they operate, it doesn't make any sense - other than what they probably perceive as a temporary public relations coup - for them to have taken the actions they did.

The idea that Google isn't willing to play by China's rules but will play by everyone else's almost seems to imply they're acting as an extension of the U.S. government rather than a private company doing business with China.

To me that's the grave danger Google faces if it is found out there were heavily influenced or pressured to make this a political decision under the guidance or orders of the government of the United States. If that is found to be true or partially true, Google would have lost all credibility. Hopefully that's not the case, but their actions at minimum imply it could be.

Comments:

Georgia Cooke (March 25, 2010 11:10 AM)
Is this the Orwellian news section of Financial Advisory, the editorial section or just what?

Sum Gai (March 24, 2010 8:22 PM)
Is this an opinion piece? Can we have some clear labeling if that is so?
If not can we get some better details about the generalities being thrown around in this article? For example a quick search for "Canadian internet censorship" brings me this as a first result:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Canada#Internet
The only thing censored on the internet is kiddy porn. Not a good example to build a case on.

Ronald Reagan (March 24, 2010 2:58 PM)
"Why isn't there outrage over the treatment in Canada of conservative pundit Ann Coulter, who was viciously slandered and attacked for her views?"
Because it's not slander. The same people who 'attacked' her also call out Glen Beck and Bill O'Reilly for the same libellous race baiting and gentrification based bias they have always had that causes hatred wherever they go.